


Please Don't Pass Me By

by midnightrambles



Series: If You Could Be (My Saviour) [1]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-15
Updated: 2013-06-15
Packaged: 2017-12-15 01:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/843711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightrambles/pseuds/midnightrambles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Please, please, please tell me the guy you have been crushing over isn’t my brother?” Jared asks, looking horrified.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Please Don't Pass Me By

**Author's Note:**

> For this story, Jeff and Jared are the same age so the age difference between Jeff and Eric is six years.

He’s not doing a very good job at it - Jeff know he’s about to explode, break apart at the seams if he holds it in any long.

“ _Dude_ , just fucking tell me - whatever it is - before you burst.”

Jeff slides his eyes over to his friend (nearly best friend since moving to Thunder Bay from Markham at the beginning of the school year), stilling his body before he says, “I think I am in love.”

Jared groans before throwing the pencil he was using to doing his homework with at Jeff. “What the fuck?”

Jeff lets out a nervous laugh. Jared is pretty cool with him being gay but Jeff has never gone into detail about the guys he is crushing on or is into. But this is different. Jeff has to tell _someone_ , so why not his almost-bestfriend?

“Okay fine,” Jeff concedes sheepishly. “I’m not in love exactly. But there’s this guy...” He bites his bottom lip, unsure if he should continue.

“Oh my god, is it a guy from school?” Jared almost looks horrified yet excited about the prospect. 

Jeff shakes his head before pushing the textbook he’s no longer reading closed. He takes a look around the library, glad they chose a hidden section away from prying ears. 

“No, no. He’s just this guy... I don’t know anything about him but I’ve seen him almost every day this past week and...” Jeff bites his lip again. “He’s so hot. Like better than any guy I have ever seen before.” He breaks off with a nervous laugh. 

Jared laughs too, leaning against the back of his chair. “So, you found yourself a hottie. What’s the big deal?”

“I... I just don’t know what to do, you know?” Jeff runs a hand through his dark hair. “He works at this place near my house so I see him when I walk home and he smiles every time he sees me. And his smile... _fuckkkk_ ,” the last word comes out breathy.

“Woah woah,” Jared says with laugh, his hands in the air. “I didn’t sign up to hear about your fantasies about this dude.”

“Sorry,” Jeff shoots him a look. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“Why don’t you just talk to him?”

“Because he’s older and probably thinks I’m some loser kid.”

That has Jared frowning. “How old do you think he is? I’d be careful, man.”

Jeff squints, his face pinching and looking unhappy. “I don’t know. Maybe 21? 22?”

Letting out a low whistle, Jared says, “Looking for a sugar daddy, Jeffy?”

“Oh, fuck _you_.”

~

Jeff doesn’t stop taking the same route home, of course. 

It’s a little chilly that February afternoon so he’s burrowed into himself as he shuffles by Tony’s Garage, the place of employment of his latest and deepest affections. Tony’s is a little local car repair shop but it’s busy enough to have a few cars outside of it daily. 

And there he is, hunched over the open hood of a car, dark wash jeans hanging low on his hips, black t-shirt clinging to all the right places. 

Jeff inhales deeply as he walks by, trying to not be obviously that he’s staring.

Suddenly, he looks up and Jeff stops in his tracks. 

“Hey,” he says, giving Jeff the smile he’s been dreaming about. 

Jeff barely squeaks out a reply of his own as he tries to shuffle away as quickly as possible.

He nearly circles the date on the calendar when he gets home before cursing himself for having such thoughts.

~

Every time Jared asks him how his “man” his doing, Jeff is reminded how much he regrets telling him.

“All I am saying is that you should at least try to talk to him if you are so hung up on him. You turned down Justin and he’s okay looking, I guess,” Jared shrugs. 

They’re in Jared’s room on a Friday evening, playing Call of Duty, shooting the shit, while their other seventeen year old friends are out getting drunk. Jeff wasn’t in the mood so Jared suggested a little gaming session instead. 

“Yeah, but I’m not going to go out with someone just because he’s the only other gay guy in school, Jared. I’m not into him at all.”

Jared makes a face. “You’re way too picky man.”

Jeff’s about to argue when a voice cuts him off. 

“Hey, bro, I’m gonna take -”

The voice stops when their eyes meet. It’s _the_ guy from the car shop. He smiles at Jeff. 

“Uh, hey.”

Jeff can feel Jared’s eyes on him but he doesn’t dare say a word (doesn’t think he could even if he wanted to). 

“Hey, Eric, this is my friend, Jeff. Jeff, Eric, my brother.”

Feeling like time slows down, Jeff flickers his eyes from Eric to Jared and back again before he licks his lips and says “hey” quickly. 

Eric smiles again before he turns his attention to his brother. “Anyway, I’m taking Mom and Dad out for dinner because I am their favourite son ever, you wanna come? Jared can come too if he likes. We’re leaving in fifteen.”

Jared looks like he’s trying really hard not to frown. “Uh, we’ll let you know.” 

Eric just nods before turning on his heels and walks out. 

“Please, please, please tell me the guy you have been crushing over isn’t my brother?” Jared asks, looking horrified. 

Jeff’s ears turn crimson, hell, he feels like his whole body is on fire. “Uh, I thought you said your brothers were away at college?”

“Yeah, Jordan and Marc, not Eric. What the fuck, dude?!”

“I didn’t know he was your brother!”

“We look alike, Jeff,” Jared doesn’t look all that impressed right now.

Jeff hangs his head, not able to handle the embarrassment he feels throughout his entire body. 

“Fuck. I swear, Jared. I had no idea.” He wishes the floor would open up and swallow him whole. 

“Oh...” Jared says before trailing off and that has Jeff looking up again. “You do live near Tony’s, don’t you?”

Jeff nods dumbly. 

“Fuck.”

And really, Jeff agrees with that because he isn’t supposed to be crushing on his best friend’s brother - friends don’t do that _ever_. 

“Man... I am so sorry, Jared. I’ll just -” Jeff’s about to make his escape when Jared shakes his head. 

“Uh, it’s cool. Eric’s only been back in town for a month anyway so it wasn’t like you knew.” He shrugs. “It’s all good. Come to dinner?”

Jeff’s eyes widen. “You sure...?”

“Yeah, man. Unless you’re gonna hit on him. Then fuck no.” Jared’s grinning now so Jeff knows he’s joking - that this is cool.

Except it really isn’t.

He ends up going to dinner with Jared, Eric and their parents. They pick a chain burger joint which Jeff loves so he’s happy. Except that Eric decides to drive the five of them and Jeff gets stuck in the seat behind him so their eyes meet in the rear view mirror. 

Eric smiles and Jeff reevaluates his decision on coming to dinner. 

He avoids any further eye contact by looking at his hands the entire car ride, letting the sounds of easy family conversation fall over him.

When they get to the restaurant, Jeff hangs back so he doesn’t have to sit next to Eric. He doesn’t realize until it’s too late that it’s worse sitting across from him.

Jeff tries to keep his eyes away from Eric’s but finds it almost impossible when Eric’s constantly smiling. It’s even worse when Eric laughs at something his dad says. 

But halfway through the meal, Jeff’s starting to think he’s doing alright. He hasn’t managed to knock anything over or stare too openly at Eric. He has even contributed to the conversation when Jared’s mom asked him how his skating is going. 

“Man, I had no idea you were Jared’s friend,” Eric says with a laugh when Jared and their parents are busy with their own conversation. 

“Yeah, I didn’t know about you either,” Jeff says with a shrug. He’s trying to keep his cool - there’s nothing to freak out over just yet.

“I just got back from the States. I was in North Carolina for a few years, school then just dicking around before I decided I should come back home and do something here.” Eric reaches for his glass of Coke, taking a short sip. “It kinda sucks without Marc or Jordy and with Jared still being in high school but at least I’m back home, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” Jeff manages before mentally berating himself for sounding like such an idiot. He tries again. “Did you go to college to be a mechanic?”

Eric shakes his head. “Nah, I studied English Lit but Tony’s really cool and hooked up with a job when I couldn’t find anything else. I really like cars and had been helping him the summer before college anyway.” He looks away before returning his gaze with a smile. “What about you? Do you want to do figure skating professionally?”

The fact that Eric looks genuinely interested and isn’t mocking Jeff for choosing figure skating over hockey (yes, yes he did), has Jeff blushing a little. 

“I could,” Jeff replies, eyes down to his plate before he looks up again. “I haven’t really thought about it though I have applied to colleges and universities too. I like skating but I want to make sure that I have something else to fall back on just in case it doesn’t work out.”

Eric nods. “Yeah, that’s a good plan.” He leans in a little closer, enough that Jeff catches the smell of his cologne. “Maybe tell Jared about your next competition and we’ll come out? I’d like to see you skate." 

He’s smiling so openly that as much as Jeff wants to scream _No! Never!_ , he lets out a breathy, _yeah, sure_. 

~

It’s been a month since Jeff found out Eric is Jared’s brother. Nothing crazy happens but he does get to know Eric a little bit better. Every day since, on his way home from school Jeff stops to talk to Eric and it’s easy. Well, it wasn’t at first. Jeff had to force down his urge to blush in the beginning whenever Eric waved him over to talk. Eric has this thing about touching Jeff, either on the shoulder or arm or neck or _somewhere_ and it drove Jeff crazy until he just let it be. The moment he relaxed into it, he felt so much better. 

So now Jeff doesn’t think twice about stopping to talk to Eric, even if it’s just a “hey, how’s it going” because Eric smiles and Jeff doesn’t think that is ever a bad thing. 

(Essentially his crush is getting worse the more he’s getting to know Eric but that doesn’t stop Jeff. He doesn’t act on it, of course. He finds out Eric is six years older than him and though it turns him on beyond belief, he also knows Eric would never ever date someone as young as him. And oh yeah, Jeff is pretty sure Eric wouldn’t date his brother’s friend either. 

The worst part is that Jeff doesn’t even know if Eric’s into guys so when he falls asleep every night, the possibilities of ‘what if’ take over without his permission.)

~

He doesn’t bring up the subject of Eric with Jared anymore. Not in the ‘oh hey, your brother is hot’ kind of way, anyway. Eric’s hung out with them a few times, playing videogames, watching hockey and whatnot. Jared tells him about the times him and his brothers would do stupid shit but he never talks about just Eric. Not that he used to. But Jeff kind of wishes Jared would give him a hint to a question he really wants the answer to.

They’re doing their homework at Jeff’s house this time when Jeff blurts out, “is Eric...um,” and stops right there because - what the _fuck_? He wasn’t planning on doing that.

Jared’s gaze meets his, eyes pinned on each others, the air now heavy with tension. It’s only a few seconds but it feels like an eternity before Jared says, “yeah, he is” before turning back to his work.

Jeff lets out a ragged breath. 

~

Every time he sees Eric after that, Jeff wonders. Wonders what it would be like to slide his fingers into Eric’s hair, to run press his palms down his chest, to curl their fingers together. He wonders what it would be like to kiss Eric - Eric who smiles at him so easily and openly that it makes Jeff feel a little light headed. 

Jeff knows that if anything ever were to happen between them Eric would take care of him, would make sure he had everything he needs. He can feel it through the way Eric handles him now, through the albeit friendly touches he gives him. 

However, he just chalks it up as him being seventeen and wanting to experience what some of his friends finally have. (Jeff has kissed two guys and got to second base with one of them. It kinda really sucks.)

~

When it happens, it’s at a party Jeff doesn’t even want to go to in the first place. A guy he really doesn’t like from high school is throwing a booze fest which ends up being a block party and Jeff has to go because Jared’s promising how fucking amazing it’s going to be. In the end, Jeff decides he needs some booze to dull the Eric-sized thoughts his mind can’t ever seem to get rid of. So, with a bottle of Captain Morgans in hand they go to this party and proceed to get blitzed as fast as they can. 

Slowly but surely, the lines begin to blur a little and all Jeff wants to do is jump and dance and drink - definitely keep drinking. He finds himself hanging off Justin - the only other gay guy in his school (that he knows of, anyway) - and right now he seems to be alright. He’s about to lick the shell of Justin’s ear, just because it’s right _there_ , when a heavy hand falls onto his shoulder. 

“Hey...” Eric says, looking a little uncomfortable. Jeff wouldn’t say the sight of him sobers him up but he definitely blinks away the haziness as much as he can.

“Whatta doing here?” He slurs. Eric’s eyes narrow a little and _fuck_ , does that make him look hotter or what.

“I got message from Jared, full of random words so I just wanted to make sure he’s okay.” Eric turns his head to see if he can find his brother amongst the crowd of drunk teens and loud music. “Are you okay, Jeff?”

Jeff laughs like that’s the funniest thing he’s heard tonight. “Yeah, yeah,” he waves his hand through the air. “My friend here -,” and Justin thinks it’s a brilliant idea to swoop in at that moment to lick his cheek, “Justin! Gross! - he’ll take care of me.” Jeff laughs again as he turns his body to Justin’s. 

“Jeff...” Eric reaches out and wraps his hand around Jeff’s bicep, tugging him lightly towards his body. “Hey, lets go okay? We need to find Jared. You’re trashed and Jared probably is too.”

Jeff shakes his head but stops immediately because it makes his vision swim. “Fuck,” Jeff says before giggling. “Maybe I am a lil’.” He turns to Justin, reaching up to pat his cheek when he feels Eric’s grip on his arm tighten. 

Next thing he knows, Eric is dragging him through the house, looking for Jared and Jeff feels sick. 

“Eric, Eric. Slow down.” 

Then there’s something cool being pressed into his hands and he’s guided down. 

“Sit here, Jeff and don’t move, okay? Drink the water and I’ll be back with Jared.”

Jeff tries to nod but once his head his down it’s hard to move it up again. Everything feels so heavy. He feels his eyes closing...

“Jeff! You need to stay awake, bud. Here.”

There are fingers on his neck and something presses against his lips. Cold water hits his tongue and he moans quietly as he slides his eyes open slowly. 

“Eric... ‘M so drunk.”

Eric laughs. He looks so pretty when he laughs. “I know, Jeff. Just drink a little bit more then I’m going to go get Jared and we’ll leave.” 

Jeff tries his best to comply, taking another long drink, relaxing into the fingers kneading at his neck. It feels so good. 

“That’s good, Jeff. Drink a little more,” Eric’s voice soothes him. But then the fingers on his skin are gone and Jeff want them back so badly. 

“Eric...”

“I’m just gonna go find Jared, okay? I’ll be right back. Don’t move, okay?”

So, Jeff stays, not really having much of a choice because he couldn’t even get up if he wanted to. He keeps drinking the water because it’s cool and feels amazing on his lips. He’s sweaty, the heat deep in his skin. It’s definitely the end of the night. 

He doesn’t know how long it is before he sees Eric in front of him again with Jared, who is completely trashed, ripped t-shirt and all. Eric’s holding onto him by his arm and it makes Jeff laugh. 

“Shiiiiit, Jar.”

Jared looks up, head bobbing a little. He just laughs when he sees Jeff sitting on the steps. 

“Are you okay to get up on your own, Jeff?” Eric asks. Jeff squints at him. He looks pissed yet worried at the same time. It makes Jeff smile fondly.

“Yeah, the water helped.”

Somehow they get back to Eric’s car where the time flashes 2:08 am. Jeff feels tired, extremely so. 

“Are you staying at ours tonight?”

Jeff pops open an eye. “Yeah... Is that okay?”

He hears Eric let out a chuckle. “Yeah, it’s fine. You guys... Shit, you’re worse than Marc, Jordy and I combined.”

That makes Jeff laugh too. “I’m okay. Fine. Sober, really.”

Eric snorts. “Good try, buddy.”

The rest of the ride back is silent except for Jared’s faint snores. Jeff looks out the window but it’s all a blur anyway.

When they get to Eric’s and Jared’s place, Eric shakes Jared awake and guides him up the walkway. He looks back to Jeff, asking him if he’s okay with just his facial expression and Jeff nods with a smile. 

All three of them get into to Jared's room where Eric pushes Jared on to his bed and slips off his shoes, not bothering with anything else because Jared snuggles against his pillows immediately and falls asleep. Eric then turns to Jeff. 

“Need help?” He points to the sleeping bag Jeff dropped onto the floor earlier that evening. 

“Sure.”

Jeff reaches down to grab it the same time Eric does and their arms bump against each other’s. Jeff feels his skin alight, taut and sweaty. He looks up to see Eric staring down at him with something in his eyes he can’t name. It’s a stupid decision, one that is alcohol fueled but Jeff does it anyway.

He leans forward and kisses Eric, just a press of lips really but it’s good. 

“Jeff...” 

Jeff just smiles as he pulls away. “Drunk. Need sleep. Was good though, kissing you.”

Eric shakes his head but has a smile on his lips. He reaches forward to grab the sleeping bag and sets it up for Jeff. Once he’s done he grasps Jeff’s wrist lightly and thumbs the skin there. He opens his mouth to say something before biting his lip and grinning instead. 

“Yeah, it was. Now sleep. You’re gonna feel like shit tomorrow.” He laughs before leaning forward to plant a kiss on Jeff’s forehead. 

When Jeff falls asleep that night, his last fleeting thought is something along the lines of _best party ever_.


End file.
